George C Marshall High School - Columbian Yearbook (Falls Church, VA)

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Far left: John Albertson concentrates on his music. Center: Gene Garcia reflects. Left: Mr. John Broaddus gives Janet Kinder a word of en¬ couragement during a varsity basketball game. Below: An impromptu game of touch football on the hill enlivens a warm fall day. Bottom: Jeff Ar¬ nold watches the teacher; Brent Barner doesn’t. COLUMBIAN 271 O O complishment, working on a play, winning a game, creating something beautiful, helping with a community proj¬ ect, becoming active in politics. I’ve also know the disappointment of failure, the hopeless abandon of defeat. Many experiences have changed or modifiecUhe person that is me, And their memories will remain within me. I am a different person than I was four years ago. I am a different person, because I was here.

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So I spend four years of my life here. What good is it? What does it do for me? Sometimes I think I haven’t learned a thing. (In classes, anyway). But maybe that’s not the point. Because I know I’ve learned lots of other things — nonacademic, extracurricular. I’ve made friends and done things with people, Things we’ll all remember for a long time to come. And without school, I’d probably never have met most of the people I know. I’ve learned how an organized system works here. One of many, I’ve either blended into the crowd and done what was expected, Or revolted against the established procedures. But I’ve reacted in some way to my situation, my surrounding envi¬ ronment. Teachers have tried to get me to learn what they’re paid to teach — Sometimes I’ve cooperated, and sometimes not. I’ve taken tests and written term papers and given reports and done projects and gotten report cards, but I still feel like the same person I started out as. Maybe some-say I’ve done well, and I’ve filled my mind with things they wanted me to, Or maybe they say I’ve done poorly, for I’ve found other things to occupy my time; But either way, I have not emerged unchanged by the educational attempts of school. In my activities with other people, I’ve begun to learn what sort of a person I am. In doing things at school or else¬ where, with others or alone, I’ve found things I enjoy, things I’m good at, things I dislike. I’ve known the pleasure of ac-

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r o ' ' V 5 ' - j?T2 COCUMEyANy ' X r ' O ' C K yx V r the hat ' s difference? Marks have been left— Are you one who has left them? Every dance, every concert, every play, Every game, each test and term paper, Is a mark of peoples’ effort, Time and pieces of people. The memories of the things accomplished And the way time was spent Will stay, even after The concrete results are long gone. So even if the poster you made Was ripped down and burnt, Even if the the play was over in one evening, Even if you lost your term paper, The memory of doing, making, accomplishing Something, no matter how small, Is still in you, somewhere; You know it is part of you. You’ve left a mark. You were here. Right ' . A tuba catches the light at a concerl Jazz Band performance. Below: In times ol dejection, it’s hard to believe you’ve made a difference.